This invention relates to machines for preparing shrimp for human consumption. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the invention is directed to an apparatus and method for making belly cuts of precise depth in the bodies of shrimp of various sizes.
In the prior art, devices exist for mechanically cutting the sand vein from the back of the shrimp. Such devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,065 to Sawyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,199 to Morris, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,702,921 to Pinney. In each of these devices, an electric motor turns a set of rotating disks, which grasp the shrimp longitudinally therebetween and pass the convex backside of the shrimp through a rotating circular blade. The blade makes a slice in the backside of the shrimp approximately the same width as the sand vein, thereby cutting the vein away.
Machines for deveining shrimp, however, are not capable of making other types of cuts in the shrimp bodies. Shrimp are consumed in many areas of the world, and with different types of cuisine, different types of cuts have to be made to the shrimp. In many dishes, such as Japanese or other Asian dishes, the shrimp are cut in a sushimi or butterfly cut from the belly side. To make a frontal butterfly cut manually, a chef must lay the shrimp down with the tail away from him, and then cut with a knife from head to tail along the belly, being careful that the knife only goes halfway in. The chef then uses the knife or his fingers to open out and flatten the shrimp carefully, without breaking the uncut flesh along the backside of the shrimp. This is a slow and laborious process, especially when large numbers of shrimp have to be prepared, for example in a restaurant or fish market.
As noted above, existing shrimp deveining machines are not capable of making the belly-side sushimi or butterfly cut. The deveining machines depend on the convex curvature of the back of the shrimp to ensure that the sand vein is removed while not cutting the shrimp in half. If a shrimp body is merely turned around and placed in a deveining machine, the resulting concave curvature of the body causes the blade to cut the shrimp into two pieces.
In order to overcome the disadvantages of existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus and method for mechanically belly cutting shrimp to precise depths for shrimp of various sizes. The present invention provides such an apparatus and method.